Luchino Visconti
Key works from the Italian neorealist pioneer and maestro of luxurious historical drama.
Visconti was a Marxist and old-money aristocrat, and a bisexual and nostalgic subversive who once challenged his leading man to a duel. He was a contradiction in terms both personally and cinematically, and a singular product of a crumbling historical epoch. From his earliest neorealist dramas that dealt with the inequity of Italian society to opulent period pieces, Visconti had an eye for the darkness of dynastic power struggles and the volatility of men obsessed by the past. His work revelled in wry humour and bold sensuality. Beyond the precision of his baroque historical detail and costuming, Visconti was also a filmmaker of psychological acuity, capturing the perversity, despair and cruelty of individuals striving to make or remake meaning in a changing world. Don’t let the painterly elegance fool you – Visconti’s cinema is one of queer desire, hysteria and transgression.- Christina Newland, season curator
